Localized photothermal effect of Co3O4 nanowires boosts catalytic performance in glucose electrochemical detection

Co3O4 has been explored extensively for the electrochemical detection of glucose, however, it suffers from limited performance due to the poor electrical conductivity originating from its semiconductor nature. While the photothermal effect (PE) localized on the electrode surface has been demonstrated as an attractive strategy for enhancing water electrolysis, it has received little attention in the context of electrochemical detection of glucose. In this study, a one-stone-two-birds strategy to integrate PE and the electrocatalytic activity of Co3O4 nanowire arrays supported on nickel foam (Co3O4 NWs/NF) was proposed for the electrochemical detection of glucose. Under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, the temperature of the Co3O4 NWs/NF electrode was elevated, along with an enlarged electrochemical surface area (ECSA) and accelerated electron transfer process. PE-assisted Co3O4 NWs/NF (PE-Co3O4 NWs/NF) shows high performance in glucose sensing, with a wide linear range from 1 μM to 0.73 mM, an excellent sensitivity of 26.17 mA mM−1 cm−2 and a low limit of detection of 0.56 μM. Moreover, PE-Co3O4 NWs/NF shows good feasibility and reliability for glucose determination in human serum samples. This work proposes a photothermal electrocatalytic dual functional system for the electrochemical sensing of glucose and provides a novel approach to boosting Co3O4 catalytic activity in glucose detection.